EUGENE, Oregon — American Sydney McLaughlin shattered her own 400 metres hurdles world record to clinch her first individual World Athletics Championships gold, while compatriot Michael Norman claimed the men’s 400m crown and Bahamian Shaunae Miller-Uibo won the women’s event.
McLaughlin blazed home in 50.68 seconds to set the first world record at this year’s championships, finishing well clear of silver medallist Femke Bol of the Netherlands. Defending champion Dalilah Muhammad finished third.
“The time is absolutely amazing and the sport is getting faster and faster,” said McLaughlin, who won 4x400m world relay gold in Doha.
“Just figuring out what barriers can be broken. I only get faster from here,” McLaughlin added according to Reuters.
Miller-Uibo cruised to 400m gold in 49.11 seconds to win her first world title, adding to her two Olympic gold medals from 2016 and 2020 over the distance.
Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino, silver medallist behind Miller-Uibo in Tokyo, had to settle for second place again while Sada Williams of Barbados took bronze.
In the men’s event, Norman made up for a disappointing fifth-placed finish in Tokyo by winning gold in Eugene, charging to victory in 44.29 seconds for his first world crown.
Former Olympic and world champion Kirani James of Grenada was runner-up while Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith held off Champion Allison to take the final podium place.
“Last year was not a good year for me so I had to do a lot of hard work just to get back to where I was,” Norman said. “This moment is going to be remembered forever.”
Tokyo bronze medallist Kelsey-Lee Barber joined 400m runner Cathy Freeman as the only Australians to retain a world athletics title after defending her javelin crown with a world-leading throw of 66.91m.
American Kara Winger (64.05) and Japan’s Haruka Kitaguchi (63.27) snatched silver and bronze with their last-round throws.
The American men’s relay quartet of Christian Coleman, Noah Lyles, Elijah Hall and Marvin Bracy cruised into the 4x100m finals in 37.87 seconds, and the US women’s team also had little trouble, finishing fastest in 41.56 seconds.
Reigning world champions Jamaica qualified without Shericka Jackson, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Elaine Thompson-Herah, who swept the 100m podium.
Allyson Felix postponed her retirement plans after being called up for 4x400m relay preliminaries, having brought the curtain down on her glittering career last week.
Peru’s Kimberly Garcia Leon won the inaugural 35km women’s race walk in 2:39:16, a week after claiming her first world gold over 20km.
Katarzyna Zdzieblo of Poland and China’s Qieyang Shijie also mirrored their results from the 20km race walk by finishing second and third.
The Olympic champion charged home in 50.68 seconds, slashing 0.73 off her previous mark of 51.41 set at the same springy Hayward Field last month and becoming the first woman to run under 51 seconds in the event.
McLaughlin finished well clear of the Netherlands’ Femke Bol (52.27) and U.S. compatriot Dalilah Muhammad (53.13).
“We knew warming up that it was going to be one of those days,” McLaughlin said after winning her first individual World Championships title.
“I knew coming home that if I just kept my cadence and stayed on stride pattern, we could do it and it happened.”
It was the sixth time in three years that the world record has been broken, after Russian Yulia Pechonkina’s mark had stood for 16 years.
“The level in the 400m hurdles is certainly improving,” said McLaughlin. “We have a full group of girls that are willing to push our bodies to the next level and we are seeing times drop. It’s really an exciting time to be in the event.”
McLaughlin charged out of the blocks and by the 100 metres mark already had the lead over Muhammad, who had held the world record as recently as June 2021.
McLaughlin built a comfortable gap before the back turn and finished several metres clear of Bol and Muhammad, the home crowd in Eugene, Oregon, erupting as the 22-year-old powered to the line.
Bol, who took bronze in Tokyo, said McLaughlin’s dominance made her question her own performance.
“She was so far in front at the end so I was always doubting if I really had a good race because it felt very good. And then I saw the sign and I was like: Wow,” she said.
“This is just amazing and it means a lot that she also broke the 51s barrier.”
Much of the hype heading into the final had focused on McLaughlin’s rivalry with 2019 champion Muhammad but the 32-year-old was left disappointed after coming back from a mild hamstring injury earlier this year.
“I’m having mixed emotions to be honest,” she told reporters.
“I’m proud of the way we had this moment. I definitely want to keep this season going. I knew that at this race I wasn’t quite at my best but I was hoping for the best.”
It was the first world record broken at this year’s World Championships, the first on US soil, and a much-needed boost for the American women, who have excelled in the field events but had been shut out on the track.
McLaughlin’s accomplishment sent shockwaves through the athletics world.
“She´s just special,” Allyson Felix, the most decorated woman in track, wrote on Twitter. “In a class of her own.”
McLaughlin said she enjoyed pushing herself to new highs.
“It’s very special to push boundaries for myself, focusing on the 10 hurdles and to be able to improve upon that, what else could I ask for?” she said.
